Mirror bought from furniture store

Ladybird20

Hi,,i bought a really nice mirror from a well known furniture store, only when it arrived some weeks later, i took it out of the box only to find that it unusually heavy,,I couldnt lift it up without asistance...the builder who was putting it up for me said it is too heavy for the walls, which are plasterboard and he felt it may pull the plasterboard off , due to the sheer weight of the mirror.....I was dissapointed about this i really like the mirror, it matched the exhisting co-ordinating furniture. When i rang the store they told me they could not take it back as it wasnt a good enough reason, as you can get special plugs for plasterboard. They didnt tell me anything i didnt know already but because of the exceptional weight of the mirror my builder told me to take it back to the shop as its unsuitable....It could become a safety issue and i am not confident in having the mirror put up with the said plugs,,its an unusal heavy weight ,,what shud i do.Ideally i would like a refund so i can buy a much lighter mirror but so far the store is having none of this..,,thanks in advance

pange

have you only spoken to them on the phone? if i was you, i'd take it back to the store, and demand a refund based on your very valid reasons as far as i can see, i think speaking to people in person can give you much better results, and i wouldnt leave the store until i got the refund, you could perhaps say even if you did get the desired wall plugs you would never be able to lift the mirrir up in the first place to hang it!!! play the feeble women card, you never know it might work! good luck x

Ladybird20

i thought about contacting trading standards on the basis of the health and safety aspect of it....hmmmmm..it is true ,, i wouldnt be able to lift the mirror up to hang it ,,its sooooo heavy......

laurz121

I don't think that trading standards would be very interested in a complaint based on a piece of furniture being heavy.

Provided it can be securely fastened to the wall then there is no problem and just because it requires specific fixing's does not mean it is unsafe.

As an example, a boiler is too heavy to lift on yourself but it is perfectly safe on your wall if fitted correctly.

Norma_Desmond

I've got an antique mirror that weighs around 10 stone - it is hung on a solid stone wall tho'.
I just hope if it ever comes down that no-one is underneath it!

Ladybird20

its measurements are 24" x 48" x 3"...i cant lift it to put it on to the scales.....sorry..i really like the mirror tho ..its in the "opus" range

plumb1_2

Ladybird20 wrote: »

i thought about contacting trading standards on the basis of the health and safety aspect of it....hmmmmm..it is true ,, i wouldnt be able to lift the mirror up to hang it ,,its sooooo heavy......

You should have checked the weight before you purchased, do you expect the store to ask which type of wall you have ????? I think if you want a refund, you will have to rely on their good nature if any?

Your stud walls will have a vertical battens spaced at 600 or 400mm centers, and you should get a good fix into them.
You can also have several fixing points in the wall to spred the weight. Instead of the usual 2, you could have 6 or 8 etc. And i wouldn't recomend useing the worm type fixings.

Ladybird20

yes i would have checked the weight ,,only the mirror was fixed onto the wall in the store,,,you ordered on seeing what you liked,,so the facilty of picking it up was out of the question,,indeed ,there are no weights on the flyers for the furniture..thank you for your advice,,also it has 2 pre drilled holes at the back with silver casings........for putting it to the walls...

plumb1_2

You could get your builder to glue/fix a piece of mdf or ply 6mm 50mm smaller than the mirror, then fix the mirror to that.

needaspirin

Ladybird20 wrote: »

yes i would have checked the weight ,,only the mirror was fixed onto the wall in the store

You could ask for your money back as the mirror is now second hand because people have been looking into it.

I apologise in advance for this reply

Ladybird20

no it wasnt second hand ..you had to order it,,,by the way the posts are going it looks like i will have to keep it......i will bare that in mind plumb 1